County to apply for grant

Chairman Mark Thornton reminded the board and audience several times of what he called "the power of one."

With Tuolumne County Supervisors Dick Pland and Larry Rotelli absent from yesterday's board meeting, if one of the supervisors were to vote against any item, it wouldn't have had a majority.

But everything passed or was continued to next week.

Thornton and Supervisors Jim Peterson and Paolo Maffei approved an application for a $500,000 first-time buyers' program grant.

The CalHome program, administered by the State Department of Housing and Community Development, will allow the county to help 10 lower-income families buy homes in the foothills.

To be eligible for the loans, families would have to earn 80 percent or less of the county's median income. The median for a family of four is $47,800, so applicants would have to earn $38,240 or less. The county would give loans of between $30,000 and $60,000, at 3 percent interest.

The item was taken out of order on the agenda because the grant application is due today and county staff members needed to finish paperwork and get it out on time.

Once back on the agenda timeline, the board approved the Groveland landfill closure project.

The landfill was closed in 1996 and replaced with a transfer station.

Clemons Construction of Redding cleared, graded, covered and fenced the 10-acre site, created a drainage system and built an access road.

The board OK'ed sending an Animal Control remodel project out for bids. The project's plans call for a 400-square-foot expansion of the office on Victoria Way in Jamestown and changes to the building's heating and air conditioning system.

The project is expected to cost $120,000. The funding will come from the Growth Impact Fee Capital Trust Fund. County staff members are looking for construction bids to come in under $100,000, according to a memo to the board from Assistant County Administrator Craig Pedro.